Many Aircraft include a Communication Management Unit (CMU)/Communication Management Function (CMF). In prior art systems, the CMU/CMF includes a configurable Aircraft Operations Communication (AOC) application. Those skilled in the art also use the acronym AOC to indicate Airline Operations Control. The configurable AOC allows the operator to customize many features of the AOC; such as format messages; determine whether to display the message on a display; customize the display of messages on a display; determine when to send a message (e.g., automatically send or send upon receiving input from a pilot or other user); determine what data, if any, available in the CMU should be incorporated into the message. Other configurable functions are available in the AOC as is known to one skilled in the art.
The operator defines the configurable AOC application within the CMU/CMF with an loadable file such as an Aircraft Operations Communication (AOC) database (DB). The AOC database includes information used to select the various configurable options within the AOC such as: formatting and display of various uplink messages; formatting and display of various downlink message; the display of the pages and logic used to create the downlink messages; formats for printing uplink messages; and/or the logic behind the messages and display/HMI functions. Other information is included in the AOC database as is known to one skilled in the art.
There is a trend in avionics toward using electronic flight bags (EFBs) for some of the cockpit operations. An EFB may be brought onto the aircraft by a pilot or other crew member or the EFB may already be installed in the aircraft. An EFB may be brought onto the aircraft by a pilot or other crew member or the EFB may already be installed in the aircraft. In the past, EFBs were portable or fixed personal computers (PC). Now EFBs are personal devices, such as iPads or other types of personal pads.